The main goal of this study was to accurately detect azole resistance in species of the Aspergillus fumigatus complex by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry ...(MALDI-TOF MS).
Identification of isolates (n = 868) was done with MALDI-TOF MS using both commercial and in-house libraries. To determine azole susceptibility, the EUCAST E.Def. 9.3.2 method was applied as the reference standard. Identification of resistant isolates was confirmed by DNA sequence analysis. Protein spectra obtained by MALDI-TOF MS were analysed to differentiate species within the A. fumigatus complex and to detect azole-resistant A. fumigatus sensu stricto isolates.
Correct discrimination of A. fumigatus sensu stricto from cryptic species was accomplished in 100% of the cases applying principal component analysis (PCA) to protein spectra generated by MALDI-TOF MS. Furthermore, a specific peak (4586 m/z) was found to be present only in cryptic species. The application of partial least squares (PLS) discriminant analysis allowed 98.43% (±0.038) discrimination between susceptible and azole-resistant A. fumigatus sensu stricto isolates. Finally, based on PLS and SVM, A. fumigatus sensu stricto isolates with different cyp51A gene mutations were correctly clustered in 91.5% of the cases.
MALDI-TOF MS combined with peak analysis is a novel tool that allows the differentiation of A. fumigatus sensu stricto from other species within the A. fumigatus complex, as well as the detection of azole-resistant A. fumigatus sensu stricto. Although further studies are still needed, the results reported here show the great potential of MALDI-TOF and machine learning for the rapid detection of azole-resistant Aspergillus fumigatus isolates from clinical origins.
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We report here the synthesis of several tripod-shaped oligo(p-phenylene)s with legs composed of two phenylene units. Each leg is end-capped with a thioacetate group for adhesion to metallic surfaces. ...An azobenzene chromophore group is present on the functional arm of the tripod. The key step in the synthesis is the Pd-catalyzed Suzuki cross-coupling reaction of the silicon derivative core molecule with substituted phenyl moieties and azobenzene derivatives. Gold surfaces prepared by thermal evaporation and CdS quantum-dots surfaces were covered by the tripod-shaped molecules. Modified surfaces were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), fluorescence, and Kelvin Probe analyses.
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Collagen fibres, stabilised by lysyl oxidase (LOX), play an important role in jumbo squid because they are responsible for the union between various cells; therefore, a close interdependence between ...their functions and muscle firmness during ice storage has been suggested. In this study, the relationship between LOX activity, pyridinoline (Pyr) content and muscle texture (SF) during ice storage of jumbo squid mantle was evaluated. LOX activity was confirmed within the range of 4.1–7.1 × 10⁻³ U g⁻¹ of protein, leading to an increase in Pyr content, detected in the range of 0.85–1.32 mmol mol⁻¹ of collagen after 5–20 days. The SF of the muscle became harder during the ice storage time, increasing from 21.08 to 37.95 N. It was therefore possible to establish the relationship between LOX activity, collagen cross‐links (Pyr content) and texture patterns during ice storage of jumbo squid muscle, which increased after 20 days.
Thin films terminated with oligo(ethylene glycol) (OEG) could be photochemically grafted onto ultrathin silicon carbide layers that were generated on silicon substrates
via
carbonization with ...acetylene at 820 °C. The OEG coating reduced the non-specific adsorption of fibrinogen on the substrates by 99.5% and remained resistant after storage in PBS for 4 weeks at 37 °C.
Thin films terminated with oligo(ethylene glycol) could be photochemically grafted onto ultrathin SiC layers that were grown on silicon substrates
via
carbonization. They reduced the non-specific adsorption of fibrinogen on the substrates by 99.5% and remained so after storage in PBS buffer for 4 weeks at 37 °C.
The mono/bis ratio for the Suzuki–Miyaura cross coupling of
p-dibromobiphenyl and
p-dibromo(penta-
p-phenylenes) with arylboronic acids and esters has been studied. The coupling reaction is ...demonstrated to be highly selective for monoarylation when the substrate is a
p-dibromooligoarene, while selective biarylation is obtained for
p-diiodoterphenyl. The mono/bis coupling-ratio for these compounds was highly sensitive to the nature of the halogen involved, however steric hindrance or electronic characteristics of the boronic derivative did not affect the selectivity of the reaction. The reaction yields observed were higher at room temperature and when arylboronic pinacol esters were used. These reactions also offer a useful method for the preparation of asymmetrically substituted terphenyls and hexa-
p-phenylenes, giving good yields.
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The objective of this study is to investigate cognitive performance in a first-episode psychosis sample, when stratifying the interaction by cannabis use and familial or non-familial psychosis. ...Hierarchical-regression models were used to analyse this association in a sample of 268 first-episode psychosis patients and 237 controls. We found that cannabis use was associated with worse working memory, regardless of family history. However, cannabis use was clearly associated with worse cognitive performance in patients with no family history of psychosis, in cognitive domains including verbal memory, executive function and global cognitive index, whereas cannabis users with a family history of psychosis performed better in these domains. The main finding of the study is that there is an interaction between cannabis use and a family history of psychosis in the areas of verbal memory, executive function and global cognition: that is, cannabis use is associated with a better performance in patients with a family history of psychosis and a worse performance in those with no family history of psychosis. In order to confirm this hypothesis, future research should explore the actual expression of the endocannabinoid system in patients with and without a family history of psychosis.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
To compare the effects of typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs on sleep activity and subjective sleep quality.
Randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, four-period cross-over, clinical trial ...was used to evaluate the effects of active treatments on objective and subjective sleep variables.
Sleep laboratory evaluation.
Twenty healthy young volunteers, both sexes.
Single oral morning administrations of olanzapine 5 mg, risperidone 1 mg, haloperidol 3 mg and placebo.
Five polysomnographic nights were evaluated: one control night and one after each intervention. Significant increase in total sleep time, sleep efficiency, slow wave sleep (SWS) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep with decreases in wake time were observed after olanzapine. Decreases in wake time, REM sleep and stage shifts together with increases in stage 2 were obtained after risperidone. Haloperidol showed only a tendency to increase sleep efficiency and stage 2 and to decrease wake time. Olanzapine showed decreases in power density in frequencies higher than 10 Hz during all sleep stages and in frequencies lower than 5 Hz range in SWS; decreases in the dynamics of spindle frequency activity (SFA) in the second and fourth non-rapid eye movement (NREM) episodes were also obtained. Risperidone presented increases in the 3.6-10.8 Hz frequency range in NREM sleep stages and in stage 2. Haloperidol also showed increases in NREM sleep stages and in stage 2, but these were in frequencies higher than 10 Hz, with increases in the dynamics of SFA in the first NREM episode. Only a significant improvement in subjective sleep quality was observed after olanzapine.
Antipsychotics showed different sleep changes as their neurochemical profiles were distinct. These changes were observed even when the drug was administered 15 h before going to bed.
Network analysis is an important conceptual and analytical approach in mental health research. However, few studies have used network analysis to examine the structure of cognitive performance in ...psychotic disorders.
We examined the network structure of the cognitive scores of a sample of 207 first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients and 188 healthy controls. Participants were assessed using a battery of 10 neuropsychological tests. Fourteen cognitive scores encompassing six cognitive domains and premorbid IQ were selected to perform the network analysis.
Many similarities were found in the network structure of FEP patients and healthy controls. Verbal memory, attention, working memory and executive function nodes were the most central nodes in the network. Nodes in both groups corresponding to the same tests tended to be strongly connected.
Verbal memory, attention, working memory and executive function were central dimensions in the cognitive network of FEP patients and controls. These results suggest that the interplay between these core dimensions is essential for demands to solve complex tasks, and these interactions may guide the aims of cognitive rehabilitation. Network analysis of cognitive dimensions might have therapeutic implications that deserve further research.
The search for voluminous stators that may accommodate large rotator units and speed rotational dynamics in the solid state led us to investigate a simple and efficient method for the synthesis of ...molecular rotors with tert-butyldiphenylsilyl-protected (TBDPS) triphenylmethyl stators. Additionally, solid state characterization of these systems with two-, four-, and six-TBDPS groups provided us with a description of their crystallinity and thermal stability. Among them, molecular rotor 7c with the largest and most symmetric stator resulting from six peripheral silyl groups showed the best tendency to crystallize, and the study of its isotopologue 7c-d 4 by solid state 2H NMR revealed a 2-fold motion of the 1,4-diethynylphenylene-d 4 rotator in the kHz regime.
Alterations of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) may play an important role in the development of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. Cannabis use is one of the environmental factors more ...repeatedly related to an increase the risk of developing a psychotic episode, while its use modifies the ECS normal function. In the present study we purposed to examine the gene by environment (GxE) interaction between 15 selected single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related to the ECS and cannabis use in a cohort of 321 patients with a first episode of psychosis (FEP) and 241 matched healthy controls. We found the fatty-acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) rs2295633 SNP genetic polymorphism was associated with a greater risk of presenting a FEP in subjects with relevant cannabis use, but not in subjects without a history of cannabis use. The probability of presenting a FEP was tenfold higher (OR: 10.69) in cannabis users who were homozygote carriers of the T allele of the FAAH rs2295633 SNP, compared to users of cannabis without this genotype. We also found that a higher a proportion of TT carriers of the FAAH rs2295633 SNP with a positive history of cannabis use was treated with high potency antipsychotic. This study has identified a GxE-environment interaction between a genetic polymorphism from the ECS and cannabis use involved in the risk of presenting a FEP. Although this preliminary data should be replicated with independent samples, our results highlight the importance of the pro-psychotic effects of exogenous cannabis use over the ECS in certain subjects.
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